2008-09 Contest Theme During the 2008-2009 school year, National History Day invites students to research topics related to the theme The Individual in History. As is the case each year, the theme is broad enough to encourage investigation of topics ranging from local to world history, and from ancient times to the recent past. To understand the historical importance of their topics, students need to ask questions about time, place, and context; cause and effect; change over time; and impact and significance. They ought to consider not only when and where events happened, but also why they occurred, what factors contributed to their development, and what effects they had on broader history. In other words, NHD projects should go beyond mere description to include analysis of information and conclusions about how the topic influenced and was influenced by other people, ideas, and events. For National History Day, students must also tie their topics to the theme. For 2008-2009 NHD projects, this means that students need to define the sense in which their topics move beyond biographies and description of specific people or events and demonstrate how that person's actions had an impact on history. The challenge for students engaged in a National History Day project with the theme The Individual in History is to capture that specific moment in time in which change occurred and the role played by an individual. As with any NHD them, the key to good hisotrical study is an examination of cause and effect and change over time. Click here to read more about the 2008-09 NHD Contest Theme. Click here for a list of sample 2009 project ideas for The Individual in History compiled by CJ Campbell Click here for a list of famous Pennsylvanians compiled by CJ Campbell